Everybody Hates Leon
by DancingKirby
Summary: Leon von Schroeder's life story as told by his nurse. Explains a lot of unsolved mysteries from the TV show. FINALLY COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Everybody Hates Leon

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or the TV show Everybody Hates Chris (which inspired the title of this story)

Author's note: The kid in the first couple of chapters is Zigfried. Leon won't make an appearance until Chapter Four or thereabouts.

* * *

I didn't know quite what to expect. Ghosts, creepy music, thunder and lightning even. But no. This mansion was quite ordinary, apart from the fact that it was a mansion.

They'd been so secretive when they were interviewing me. Their story was that their six-year-old son's nurse was retiring and they needed a replacement. But... there were many inconsistencies. When I had called to say my plane had arrived in Europe, the woman who answered the phone had identified herself as the kid's nurse. Perhaps she was waiting to retire until I had learned the ropes. Yeah, that was probably it.

There was a small boy playing with a soccer ball on the front lawn. Poor kid. He looked too innocent and helpless to be weighed down with his parents' high expectations.

The kid stopped playing and looked at me. I greeted him, and he mumbled something back in German. Obviously, he could understand English but preferred not to speak it. I had taken German in college, so I was reasonably fluent in the language. However, there is always room for improvement, which is partly why I took this job. Of course, it would pay nicely too...but I digress.

By now, the boy was pointedly ignoring me, so I walked past him and knocked on the front door of the mansion. A very harried-looking woman answered. "Look, I'm sorry that his soccer ball landed in your flowerbed, but..."

She then trailed off as she realized I wasn't here to discuss flowerbeds. "Oh! I'm sorry! You must be the new servant. Come in!" she said.

The woman introduced herself as Gesina. She said she was in charge of the house for the time being because Frau von Schroeder was ill and...

"Excuse me," I interrupted. "I didn't know she was sick. What's wrong with her?"

"No one knows for sure," Gesina replied. "For some reason, they don't want anyone to know what's wrong. A doctor comes to check on her sometimes, but he's been sworn to secrecy."

This is getting weirder and weirder, I thought. But then my train of thought was broken as Gesina said, "Master von Schroeder, please don't track dirt in the house. Here, give me your shoes-they're filthy!"

* * *

The house was so big that by the time I was shown most of the rooms, supper was ready. I ate with the family because I was to be a high-ranking servant.

I learned the hard way not to ask after Frau von Schroeder's health. Herr von Schroeder gave me a very long and very loud lecture about this when I dared to ask when she would get better.

After dinner, I was told that I was to meet with Frau von Schroeder in her bedroom. A servant led me to the door of the room.

"You're so lucky!" she whispered in German. "Everyone is dying to know what's wrong with her. I can't take you any farther, though. Good luck!"

I walked into the room. It was nice enough (by nice I mean "like a five-star hotel"). However, it had a gloomy air to it. All the curtains and drapes were closed, so the only light source was a couple of ornate lamps.

These lamps were so dim that at first I thought I was the only person in the room. Then I saw Frau von Schroeder. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, her back to me. She was wearing a nightgown, and her red hair was arranged in a long, thick braid. When she finally noticed I was there, she turned around and...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Author's notes: The beginning of this story takes place before the Berlin Wall came down, so that is why there is a reference to West Germany in the flashback. I'll give you the full story timeline in a later chapter.

Disclaimer: My not-owningness of Yu-Gi-Oh is unchanged...

* * *

I immediately realized what Frau von Schroeder's "illness" was. Even though she was wearing a loose nightgown, it was easy for anyone to see that Frau von Schroeder was very pregnant.

I couldn't understand. What was so bad about this that she had to hide? She should be happy.

Before I could think about it further, however, she snapped at me, "Well, are you going to stand around staring or get on with the meeting?"

I tried to not ask anything, but I have always been too curious for my own good. So I inquired if she was on bed rest or something.

Frau von Schroeder answered, "Well, what does it look like?"

I answered, "But why? Is there a complication or something?"

She spat out, "No, everything is perfectly fine. That's the problem!"

Of course, this was so confusing that I couldn't even think of anything to say. There was an awkward two minutes or so of silence in the room. Finally, Frau von Schroeder said, "Well, I brought you here so you could find out exactly why you were hired, so I might as well start at the beginning..."

FLASHBACK

She was lonely. She should be happy, she thought. Here she was, at one of the most elite Christmas parties in Europe. She had been seemingly happily married to a multimillionaire for eight years. At twenty-eight, she was still young and beautiful. Perhaps best of all, she had given her husband an heir, who at five was the darling of the West German paparazzi.

But that was only what other people saw. They were all jealous of her. They had no idea what it was really like for her. After their son was born, her husband showed no interest in sleeping with her. They had had separate bedrooms for four years now.

And here she was, at this nice party, in all her velvets and satins, feeling utterly miserable. Her husband had not even accompanied her to this party, preferring his work to her. Suddenly, she realized what this meant. For the first time in a while, she was free to do what she wanted.

A short time later, she started dancing with a British businessman. She had met him briefly before-he had come to Berlin for a meeting two years ago. She found him very easy to talk to. In less than an hour, he had convinced her to take a walk with him in the courtyard of the hotel where the party was being held. Just a short time after that, they were sneaking into his hotel room...

In the morning she flew back to Germany as if nothing had happened.

END FLASHBACK

"And it was easy to keep on pretending nothing had happened, for a while. Until...well, you can guess," Frau von Schroeder finished.

I am certain that by this point my lower jaw was touching the floor.

Then, seeming to forget that she had just spilled all her nasty secrets to me, Frau von Schroeder continued on in a businesslike tone, "Well, I guess you will be wanting to know what your actual job entails, so here is a list of your duties." She actually spoke the following as if she was reading off a list:

1. You will look after young Master von Schroeder for the next three months. He is too much for Gesina to handle by herself.

2. Once that...thing is born, (Yes, she actually said that!) You will spend all of your time with it. We will set up a suite of rooms for your use, and you will be given as much money as you need.

3. You are to speak to the child in English. We want...it... to pass as American, so that is why we hired you.

4. We do not want to see a trace of this child unless we say otherwise.

"Any questions?" she finished. I shook my head.

Frau von Schroeder shouted, "Good. Now GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" I didn't need any more encouragement-I scampered out of there as fast as I could.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: Starting with this chapter, I'll use Zigfried's name more to clear up any confusion that people have about who is who. The narrator is a twentysomething American woman who was certified as a nanny weeks before she was hired. I'll be slowly revealing more about her as the story goes on. The kid is Zigfried.

This chapter probably won't be as good as the first two. It's really just killing time until the all-mighty Chapter Four, where Leon will make his debut.

* * *

I learned a lot of things over the next three months. I learned to always put on makeup and wear nice clothes when out with Zigfried. He loved hamming it up for the crowd of photographers that was always following him, and I would almost invariably end up in the pictures.

I learned that Zigfried was a spoiled brat prone to tantrums when he didn't get what he wanted. Obviously, I had my work cut out for me.

I learned to get by on not much sleep. Frau von Schroeder seemed to think that 2 a.m. was a perfect time to summon me to her room and treat me to one of her rants. She was always in an especially bad mood after a doctor visit because the baby always got a clean bill of health.

Herr von Schroeder on the other hand, liked saving his ranting and lectures for the dinner hour. Often, these were very confusing. Here is one example:

"Zigfried, eat your food!" he would yell, "Don't you want to enjoy food like the German you are?"

When Zigfried answered in German, Herr von Schroeder shouted, "How many times do I have to tell you, speak in English!"

And THAT was on a good day.

I learned that the servants were not stupid and had guessed more about Frau von Schroeder's "condition" than they had originally let on.

I learned every combination of curse words possible in the German language. Most of these were shouted after me as I hurried out of Frau von Schroeder's room. Zigfried was already developing a "colorful" vocabulary of his own.

I learned not to touch the rosebushes OR ELSE.

I learned that Frau von Schroeder's doctor always carried earplugs and a bottle of aspirin whan he visited the mansion.

I learned that, according to Herr von Schroeder, those East German communists were to blame for everything and anything that went wrong, including burned spots on food.

I learned to not mention Japan in front of Herr von Schroeder. I learned to not mention America in front of Herr von Schroeder. I learned to not mention any country in front of Herr von Schroeder.

I learned how to convert the metric system into American units without using a calculator.

I learned that the von Schroeders loved animals and had seven cats, two lapdogs, four regular dogs, eight horses, and one large tank of exotic fish (but no partridge in a pear tree).

But maybe the most important thing I didn't so much learn as I did infer. It seemed to me that if something didn't happen for the better, someone would get hurt in the near future.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A/N: This is the chapter all you Leon fans have been waiting for! It may be considerably longer than my previous chapters, but I'm not sure about that yet.

Disclaimer: Crap, I forgot my disclaimer last time. Well rest assured, I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

* * *

About two weeks before the baby's due date, Frau von Schroeder summoned me for a meeting with her and her doctor.

As I walked into her room, I heard the doctor saying in German, "You do realize we don't usually do it that way, right?" Frau von Schroeder started to reply, but trailed off when she saw that I had arrived.

I was a bit wary as I sat down. I knew from experience that Frau von Schroeder's wrath level was directly proportional to how big around she was. Her stomach was currently so swollen that even her loosest nightdress had had to be altered.

"So you're here," Frau von Schroeder said to me, switching to speaking in English. I asked her what the meeting was about.

She answered, "Tomorrow I'm going to the hospital to get this thing out of me. You are going with me." I knew Frau von Schroeder well enough to know that this was a command and not a request.

Frau von Schroeder continued, "My doctor here will be using a general anesthetic, so you will be in charge of...it." At this, the doctor started to protest again.

I can't say I disagreed with him. I knew from my college anatomy class that general anesthesia was not used in delivering babies unless the baby or the mother was in mortal danger. But then I reprimanded myself for being surprised. This was Frau von Schroeder, after all. Knowing her, she would want to wake up and have the baby removed without having to see it being born. After some talk about the time of the appointment and such, I was dismissed from the room.

* * *

It was hard for me to sleep that night. I kept thinking that in a matter of hours, I would more or less be a mother. I had been moved to the suite of rooms where I would be staying with the baby. It wasn't fancy, but I knew it was better than most actual single mothers could afford.

The next morning, I learned that all the servants (except me, Gesina and a couple of bodyguards) had been given the day off. Gesina had finally been informed of the "situation". She did not act surprised in the least.

As we were getting into the least showy car the von Schroeders owned, it occured to me that Frau von Schroeder had not told me what to name the baby.

When I asked her about this, she carelessly said, "Just name it after one of my parents. Leonhard if it's a boy, Clara if it's a girl." When I inquired about middle names, she snapped, "It doesn't matter. Think one up yourself if you must!"

It was a relatively short drive to the hospital. Herr von Schroeder was not there when we arrived, and I knew that he would not show up at all. After signing in and getting a brief checkup, Frau von Schroeder went into the operating room. Of course, all of the doctors had had to say they wouldn't say anything to the tabloids.

The last thing Frau von Schroeder said before the anesthesia was administered was, "Just get this over with as quickly as possible."

I won't go into detail about the operation. All you need to know is that about ten minutes later, the MOST ADORABLE BABY EVER was born!

Sure, he was a bit on the small side (he was born two weeks early, after all), plus he was covered in all that icky gunk that babies are covered in when they're first born, but he still held the title of MOST ADORABLE BABY EVER.

"Frau von Schroeder is really missing out on this," I thought smugly as I held the MOST ADORABLE BABY EVER and gave him his first bottle. "Oh well, her loss!"

When Frau von Schroeder woke up a couple of hours later, she had no interest in holding her baby or even seeing him, so he was all mine. I can't say I was disappointed. After all he was...well, I think you get the point!


	5. Chapter 5

Okay...I can't put it off any longer...I'm showing the darned timelines!

General Timeline (will be the same for all my stories)

October 2001: Duelist Kingdom

February 2002: Battle City

April 2002: Waking the Dragons

May 2002: Grand Prix

Timeline for this story:

June 1983: Zigfried is born (the soccer ball he was playing with in Chapter 1

was a gift for his sixth birthday)

December 1988: The Christmas party o' doom (according to Frau von Schroeder)

June 1989: Story begins

September 1989: Leon is born

I'll add more dates in the story to keep the readers oriented :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I did come up with the timeline myself.

Now here's the story (Finally!)

* * *

The new baby was allowed to go home two days after he was born. Per his mother's request, he was named Leonhard. I never liked that name, so I shortened it to "Leon". I was still trying to think up a good middle name.

Technically, Frau von Schroeder could have gone home too, but she was dramatically complaining that her healing incision hurt so much that she couldn't move. Thus, she stayed an extra day.

When Leon and I arrived at the mansion, I noticed that the servants had been given another day off.

* * *

After hearing so many nightmare stories in nursing school concerning how hard babies were to look after, I was rather nervous about my new job. Thankfully, Leon seemed to be naturally quiet and easygoing. He rarely cried unless it was important. It was almost as if he sensed that everyone was pretending he didn't exist.

That is not to say that I had an easy time. No matter how good-natured Leon was, he was still a baby and therefore virtually helpless. I hardly ever got time to myself. Gesina would sometimes be available to take my place so I could run errands, but otherwise I was a prisoner in the apartment.

However, working for such a wealthy family had its benefits. The money that the von Schroeders gave me was much more that I needed for basic supplies. That meant neither Leon nor I were lacking in anything, no matter how trivial. But I _didn't_ spend the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars on jewelry and handbags, unlike a certain other woman living in the house.

As far as I could tell, Zigfried had not been informed about his half-brother.

* * *

November 1989

It was a bad day at the von Schroeder house. Herr von Schroeder was in a fearsome mood. He had had to cancel an important meeting in Berlin because "those damn communists can't control a little rebellion!" The man was storming around the house, frightening the servants, the animals, and even his wife and son.

I was watching over Leon, who was lying on his favorite blanket and apparently extremely fascinated by his feet, when I heard a knock on the apartment door. I expected it to be Gesina-she was the only one besides us who ever went into our suite of rooms.

I was surprised to see that it was Zigfried. "How did you know I was here? As a matter of fact, why are you here in the first place?" I asked him.

"I knew you were here because I've seen you go in here. I went here because I'm hiding," he answered. He sounded a bit different. It took me a while to figure it out, but then I realized what it was-he was speaking in English, something I had never heard him do.

I let him in. Spoiled brat or not, he was obviously terrified by his father's shouting. I had just barely closed the door when Zigfried asked, "Who's that?"

Naturally, he was referring to Leon, who was now sucking on his fingers contentedly. I had been right-they hadn't told Zigfried a thing. I knew that a six-year-old could not understand the intricacies of the situation, so I simply said, "That's Leon."

Zigfried didn't skip a beat. He said, "How do you do, Leon?" while offering his hand to the baby. I couldn't help laughing.

Zigfried stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon. Leon was happy because he had a new toy-Zigfried's pointer finger. Zigfried was happy because there was no shouting in this part of the house. And I was happy because I finally saw Zigfried's good side.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter may seem a bit unfocused, but I've thought of so many cute vignettes that I just have to publish!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, so you lawyers will have to find another way to make money!

* * *

The winter of 1989 was relatively uneventful for Leon and I. The Berlin Wall came down, but Leon wasn't very interested about that. Zigfried visited us almost daily. During those visits, it was almost like he was another person. Leon really seemed to have a positive effect on him.

During one of these visits (I think it was in April), Zigfried was particularly upset. He was having troubles learning how to read, and the incessant scolding from his parents didn't help him learn any faster. So I said, "Why don't you bring a book up here? I can give you extra lessons.'"

Zigfried wasn't too thrilled about extra schoolwork, but he got some books from his room.

It was soon apparent that Zigfried desparately needed the tutoring. He could barely read ten different German words, and he could read no English at all. I decided to help ease him into the work by reading to him for a few minutes.

I had only read a few sentences when I noticed that Leon had become completely silent. He had been sitting on the floor babbling to himself, but was now focusing all his attention on the book. When I stopped reading to look at him, he started to whimper in protest. He returned back to his happy self when I resumed reading.

It wasn't long before I found myself holding both boys on my lap. If I even stopped to take a couple of breaths, Leon would start whining again. After a while, Zigfried got bored and left. Leon, on the other hand, listened to me reading until I had to stop to fix dinner. Even after all those hours of reading, Leon was a bit upset that I couldn't do more!

* * *

July 1990

From then on, reading became a daily ritual in the apartment. Zigfried's grades at school improved significantly, so his parents had let up on the nagging almost completely. In fact, they were so pleased that they invited me to go to their summer home with them.

I asked if I could take Leon with me. Frau von Schroeder considered this for several days before finally giving in and saying, "Okay, you can take the baby. But you have to rent a different house, and we don't want to see it for even one second!"

The von Schroeders' beach house was located on the southern coast of France. They had their own private beach, so they wouldn't have to look at the nude sunbathers that are common on most European beaches. Fortunately, I was able to rent a separate house close enough to their beach that I didn't have to look at the sunbathers either. Their spot of land was big enough so I could take Leon to the beach and keep him out of the sight of Herr and Frau von Schroeder.

Zigfried, on the other hand, was always sneaking over to play with us. His parents never let him play like a kid his age should. He and Leon enjoyed digging large and random holes in the sand. Leon was getting old enough to crawl a good distance away before I noticed he was gone, so it was good that he was occupied.

On the last day of the vacation, I was looking for the kids. They had been digging yet another hole, but the hole was vacant when I checked for them. I wasn't too worried-the property was fenced off. Still, I wanted to find them before it got dark.

They hadn't gone far. They were sitting together, just looking at the ocean. Leon was sitting in Zigfried's lap. I snuck back in the house to get a camera and took their picture. It was actually the first picture of them together.

As soon as I was done snapping the picture, I called them inside. Zigfried had very pale skin, so he would get a bad sunburn if he stayed out much longer.

The first thing I did when I got home was develop the picture. This was Frau von Schroeder's opinion of it: "Well, at least it has good lighting."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A/N: In this story, Leon's middle name is Michael. I should have put that in the story somewhere, but I forgot. And...in this chapter you'll find out the narrator's name! Well, her first name at least.

* * *

I was kept very busy over the next year. Leon was now a toddler and showing his mischievous streak for the first time. As soon as he could take a couple of steps, he was getting into everything. However, he would always stop if I told him to stop sternly enough.

Even with his new independence, Leon still preferred story time to anything else. All I had to use as a punishment was the threat, "I won't do reading if you keep on doing that!" That always made him stop whatever undesirable thing he was doing so quickly that it was funny.

Leon was never picky about what kind of book I read to him. Once I satisfied him for six hours straight by reading aloud from a dictionary. Needless to say, I never tried that again!

As well as reading to Leon, I helped Zigfried with his lessons. Zigfried wasn't exactly ready to read War and Peace, but at least he could keep up with his classmates well enough.

* * *

I could only take all of this reading for so long. I had probably consumed a ton of cough drops over the past year. Also, Leon often didn't go to sleep until eleven pm because he wanted me to read more. After much deliberation, I decided that there was only one solution to the problem.

"Leon," I said, "You're going to have to learn how to read by yourself!"

As soon as I heard how that sounded, I felt really stupid. How could I teach an twenty-month-old baby how to read? I mean, any kid who is into decorating his highchair tray with oatmeal (I made my bold statement during breakfast) is obviously too young to be literate!

Leon, however, didn't see anything out of the ordinary about my remark. "OK, Mama," he answered nonchalantly.

"Leon, I've already told you I'm not your mama. I'm Melissa." I said. He was always forgetting. But really, who could blame him?

Leon returned to playing with his food as if he had forgotten that I had said anything.

I was half-hoping that he HAD forgotten. But apparently he had a better memory than I had thought. As soon as breakfast was done, Leon was ready to start learning. How did I know that? Let's just say that having Zigfried's old workbook dropped next to my feet was a pretty obvious clue!

* * *

Leon learned how to read much faster than I could have ever imagined. In just three months, he could read well enough to keep himself entertained for quite some time. Of course, I had to tell Frau von Schroeder about this.

All she said was, "You must be imagining it. Everyone knows that babies don't have the capacity to learn like that!"

I was appalled. This was a new low even for her. Her son could be a bona fide genius and she was still ignoring him! I knew that Frau von Schroeder's mind could never be changed by any method, so I walked away.

However, I was not given up. This little episode had officially made me declare a silent war on Frau von Schroeder.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A/N: I was planning to have this chapter's events occur later on in the story, when Leon was three or four. But then I decided that it would work just as well now. Anyway...we'll finally get to see some of Melissa's family in the next chapter. How will that be accomplished, you ask? You'll see...

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but try to tell my imagination that!

* * *

January 1992

It was the dead of winter. The heater in the apartment was getting unreliable, so I decided to go ask the von Schroeders for a replacement.

In no time at all, I decided that I would much rather prefer a faulty heater to what I was witnessing. Herr and Frau von Schroeder were in the middle of a full-blown argument. The fight had apparently started over nothing. By the time I got there, the argument had degenerated into volleys of curse words.

I didn't know what to do. If I left, they might hear me leaving and get mad at me for eavesdropping. If I intervened, someone might get hurt. I ultimately decided that leaving would be less risky as they started throwing punches at each other.

For several hours, I didn't think much about what I had witnessed. This was actually not the first time that I had seen the von Schroeders fighting. Herr von Schroeder was drunk most of the time, and I strongly suspected that Frau von Schroeder had started cheating on him again. They hadn't had a major blowup in weeks, so I wasn't too surprised about what had happened.

"They'll wear themselves out, like they usually do," I thought.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. The fight continued all through the day and into the night. Even after going at it for eight hours, the two were still so loud that they were keeping Leon from being able to go to sleep.

Finally, around midnight, it got ominously quiet in the mansion. At the time, my brain did not register the "ominous" part. I was just glad that I could go to bed at last.

I was just drifting off into sleep when I heard Leon scream in terror. I sleepily thought that he was just having a bad nightmare. Who wouldn't after the events of today?

I stumbled down the hall, really wishing that I had gotten that darned heater fixed.

I wanted sleep so badly, I started reassuring Leon without even turning on the light switch. When he continued screaming, I thought that maybe there was a bug in the room or something. I turned the light on so I could see where it was.

After a few seconds of adjusting to the light, I looked around the room. It only took a short while before I started screaming also. There was a huge butcher knife lying on the floor right next to Leon's bed!

After I finally calmed down, I started asking Leon questions. Let me tell you-there aren't many things that are as difficult as trying to understand a sobbing two-year-old. But from what I could gather, Leon had woken up because someone had opened his door. The cold draft from the hall had, in a stroke of unbelievable luck, caused Leon to look at the right place at the right time.

After that, Leon said nothing more that was intelligible, but I was now able to piece together what I thought might have happened. It would have made sense that Frau and Herr von Schroeder would have been having a fight about her infidelity. Naturally, that would have reminded Herr von Schroeder of Leon's existence. Since he was drunk, all his inhibitions were down. It would have been easy for him to sneak into the apartment. And he would have been successful in his mission, if it hadn't been for that wonderful, saintly broken heater!

After I had had my "aha!" moment, I started worrying about Frau von Schroeder and Zigfried. But I didn't have to worry for long. Suddenly, Frau von Schroeder burst through the door. She was wearing a positively horrid fur coat. Behind her was Zigfried, who looked to be bundled up in every item of warm clothing he owned.

"Here, you take him. Get Zigfried and ...it...out of here. It's not safe to stay here right now!"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the first rational idea that I had ever seen Frau von Schroeder have.

I obeyed her and took Zigfried. The silent war would have to wait.

I only took a few minutes to pack after Frau von Schroeder departed to who-knows-where. In half an hour, the boys and I were stuffed into a car and speeding towards the airport. Now would be as good a time as any to go back home for a few weeks!


	9. Chapter 9

After arriving at the airport, the first thing I did was call my parents. When they answered, I told them the situation. Thankfully, they were more than happy for me to come visit. I think that they were suffering from empty-nest syndrome more than anything else. I was their only kid, so when I left, there was no one living with them.

The kids didn't give me any troubles on the plane. They mostly slept. Soon I had fallen asleep as well. But some time later, as we were flying over some random part of the Atlantic Ocean, Zigfried shook me awake.

"Huh? What is it?" I said drowsily.

"Why did Father want to hurt Leon?" Zigfried asked.

I sighed. I couldn't delay the explanation forever. I tried to find a good way to put it.

"Well, first off I should say that Leon is your brother, Zigfried." I started.

"I figured that part out," Zigfried answered, "But that doesn't explain much."

I internally rolled my eyes. Zigfried sure had a knack for making things like this more difficult than they had to be!

* * *

In the end, I think I did a fair job of explaining it. I had to make the story so it was suitable for an eight-year-old's ears, and Zigfried kept interrupting, but he got the general point after a while. We both went back to sleep for the rest of the flight.

Because of the large time difference between Europe and America, it was very early in the morning when we landed in Detroit, Michigan. Zigfried complained about the fact that he had to be woken up while Leon could still sleep. I replied that Leon was barely more than a baby and needed the sleep more. As it was, I wished I at least had brought Leon's stroller with me. My right arm, which was holding Leon, was just about as asleep as he was!

It wasn't long before I spotted my parents waiting for us. I ran over as quickly as I could while holding a two-year-old in one arm and our carry-on (and only) luggage in the other.

We greeted each other for what seemed like hours. After all, I hadn't seen them for nearly three years! Zigfried did not like the fact that I had gone so long without paying attention to HIM, so he snuck off to a nearby candy store. Leon was miraculously still asleep. Fortunately for my poor arm, my mother held him for a while.

After getting organized, and wrenching Zigfried away from a display of lollipops, we exited the airport. My parents had a taxi waiting. Leon had very crankily woken up at last.

It was crowded in the car, but we could all fit if Leon sat on my lap. As we drove off, Leon was looking at his new surroundings. Zigfried, in his typical fashion, was whining about how boring America was so far.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I said I did, I'd get banned, and we wouldn't want that to happen!

* * *

We ended up spending about a month with my parents. I kept on saying to them that we were taking up WAY too much of their time. But Mom and Dad kept insisting that we should stay as long as we needed. They wouldn't even let us stay in a hotel!

Leon was a big hit with both my parents. My dad especially liked playing the role of father figure. And Leon was definitely in need of a father figure. Soon the two were practically inseparable. Their favorite activities included going to the park, watching random shows on TV, and, of course, reading!

I wish I could say the same thing about Zigfried. My parents tried to bond with him as well. They learned the hard way that Zigfried was not a bonding kind of kid.

On the bright side, Zigfried's English dramatically improved during our visit. He was stuck in a place where German was not the main language. He grumbled constantly about that fact, but his English vocabulary nearly doubled in a matter of weeks.

We had been in America for about four weeks when it snowed. Leon had never seen snow. How could he when he was holed up in that apartment all the time? Zigfried had seen lots of snow, but his parents never let him play in it. They thought it was "unbecoming".

I, on the other hand, had no such reservations. As soon as it got light enough to see (the snow had fallen overnight), I was running out the door, putting my coat on as I went.

Neither boy knew exactly what to do. Leon was content just to sit in one spot and examine this new substance. As far as Zigfried was concerned, snow's only purpose was to be shoveled by the servants.

Finally, I got an idea. I could take the kids sledding! I knew that Zigfried had seen people sledding back in Germany. He had shown every intention of wanting to try it. And I soon found that he was no less eager here. As soon as I suggested it, he was running off looking for a hill!

My idea turned out to be a good one. It was tiring repeatedly dragging Zigfried, who refused to walk, uphill in the sled, but it was all worth it in the end. It was the first time I saw Zigfried smile! I cursed myself for not bringing a camera.

* * *

Shortly after we got back home, I got a call from Frau von Schroeder. She said that we could go back to Germany now.

"Everything's fine now," she said shortly. "I don't want my son to stay in America for too long-he might get contaminated!" Of course, there was no mention of Leon. Apparently, he could get "contaminated" as much as he wanted.

So our trip came to an end. My parents implored us to come back soon. I'll never be able to understand them! We visit for a whole month and they want us to come back soon!

A/N: Why the heck can't I write long chapters like everybody else! I spent a long time writing this and it's just 600 words! Don't worry, I'll keep on trying. My goal is to get over 1000 words in one chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Also, Alexander (who will be introduced in this chapter) belongs to the Peach half of PeachPonta. He gave me permission to "borrow" his character!

* * *

There was definitely a change in the von Schroeder household after we returned. Frau and Herr von Schroeder had appeared to have reached some kind of truce. Unfortunately, that truce involved them ignoring each other as much as possible. I was almost missing the fighting. Then, at least, the house wasn't always dead quiet.

Also while we were away, Herr von Schroeder had decided that Zigfried should start being trained to run the company. Now I didn't know much about business, but nine seemed a bit too young to start business classes! But of course I couldn't say anything about it. According to Herr von Schroeder, women were creatures who were too delicate and too stupid to focus on anything but staying in the home.

This actually explained a lot, like why Frau von Schroeder acted so vapid all the time. Maybe she was actually a very intelligent person..."or maybe not", I thought as she whined about how the latest shipment of designer handbags was six hours late.

By his third birthday, Leon could read just about anything. He would get so absorbed in his reading that he would ignore everything else happening around him. In fact, after many frustrating months, I found that the only way to potty-train Leon was to move all of his favorite books into the bathroom. Of course, he would then just stay in the bathroom for hours, not moving until I made him do so. It was a good thing that there were two bathrooms in the apartment!

March 1993

It was a normal day at the von Schroeder estate. Herr von Schroeder was working and Frau von Schroeder was at some expensive spa for the day. Zigfried was at school. Leon was reading. I was dusting the furniture. The servants were doing assorted tasks. Finally, Gesina was preparing a large alcoholic drink for Herr von Schroeder. He had asked for one even though it was 10 am. I mean, could that guy get more blatantly obvious about being an alcoholic?

However, the day soon turned out to be quite unusual. At about lunchtime, Gesina burst into our apartment. She was breathing heavily from the long distance she had had to run.

"You're going to have company," she finally managed to gasp out.

Naturally, I was confused. Gesina and Zigfried were the only company Leon and I ever had. I asked her to clarify. When Gesina caught her breath, she explained that Herr von Schroeder's brother was coming to visit. He would be bringing his British wife and their son, who was a few months older than Leon.

"They won't want children underfoot, so they'll be sleeping here, if that's fine with you. If it isn't I can find another place..." she trailed off.

I was quick to reassure her that of course it was fine with me. I actually wasn't too sure about that, but I didn't want to give Gesina any extra work. Besides, it would be nice for Leon to have someone his age to play with.

As soon as Gesina left, I ran into Leon's room, shouting that we would have company today, and he would have to be nice to them, and he would have to share his room with someone, and please take a break from your reading and eat something! That's right. He didn't even stop his reading to eat.

* * *

Several hours later, the guests arrived. Apparently, Herr von Schroeder had sobered up enough to give them a proper greeting. I was just waiting until the little boy would arrive at our "place". I didn't have to wait long. Soon, I heard little footsteps running down the hall.

Our door opened. Gesina was standing there with the aforementioned kid. The first thing I noticed about him was that he had a much darker complexion than either Zigfried or Leon. With his dark hair and light-olive complexion, he looked more Greek than German. Maybe Herr von Schroeder's brother had inherited some genes from the more Mediterranean people who were appearing more and more in all parts of Germany.

Gesina said that the boy's name was Alexander. Apparently, his mother had insisted on an English name.

As soon as Gesina left, I found out the hard way that Alexander was completely different from Leon. To say he was hyper would be putting it lightly. The first thing he did was repeatedly poke Leon, who was reading as usual. As he explained it, he wanted to see if Leon was a human or a statue. Really, I couldn't blame him!

"This will be a long couple of days," I thought as I told Alexander that countertops were not mountains to be explored.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Isn't that amazing?

* * *

In just a few hours, I felt like I had aged ten years. So far I had had to stop Alexander from poking Leon 9 times, had had to stop him from pinching Leon 6 times, had broken up a food fight, and had to literally pin Alexander to the bed to get him to go to sleep!

Now, however, it was a new day. Maybe I could plan some activities. After breakfast, I decided to take Leon and Alexander to the park. I figured that maybe Alexander would be less hyper if he got to run around a bit.

I was sort of right. Alexander did seem more relaxed after playing ouside. What I hadn't realized was that he would want ME to play with him the whole time. It was fun at first. Being shut up in that apartment did not give me much time to exercise. However, I tired out WAY before Alexander did. After about an hour, I was sprawled across a park bench. Alexander was tugging at the hems of my pants, informing me that I had had enough rest!

During all of this, Leon was sitting on a swing, reading a book. I made a mental note to myself to shoo Leon outside more often. He was getting a bit chubby. On the contrast, Alexander was one of those little kids who was so naturally skinny that his ribs stuck out a bit.

* * *

When we got back home, I thought to myself, "They're leaving tomorrow. You have only twenty-four more hours of this!"

Thankfully, Alexander was a bit quieter thanks to the exercise. He spent most of the afternoon asking Leon to read to him, which Leon was more than happy to do.

At around 6:30 pm, Gesina visited us once again. This time, she was informing us that Alexander was expected to be at the adults' dinner in one hour. "But there's a problem that they didn't catch. Apparently, they want you there as well, to keep an eye on Alexander. That would mean that Leon would be in here by himself!"

I quickly agreed that that would not be right at all. I felt thankful that there was at least one adult in this house other than me who had some moral fiber.

Gesina and I mulled over the predicament for several minutes. Finally, we decided to have Leon pose as my biological son. Gesina hurried down to discuss this with Frau von Schroeder. Thankfully, our idea was grudgingly accepted.

* * *

I gave both boys a snack so they wouldn't be starving while waiting for everyone to be served. Then it was on to the biggest challenge of the night-getting the boys into formalwear!

I was very surprised when Alexander did not object to this. I had forgotten that he had probably already been to dozens of formal occasions in his young life. Leon complained for a while about how tight and scratchy the clothes were, but he let me put the clothes on him.

If you're wondering how I got the clothes, Alexander was wearing his own. Gesina had found some of Zigffried's old stuff for Leon.

After all of the preparations, we went downstairs.

As soon as I met Alexander's parents, it became obvious why Alexander was so dark. His mother was part Indian! Not the Native American kind of Indian, the kind that's from India. I asked about this, and she said that her grandmother had immigrated to Britain sixty years ago, when India was still a British colony.

Alexander's mother may have had the same title as Leon's mother-Frau von Schroeder. But their personalities were totally different. We ended up talking for quite some time. I saw that the original Frau von Schroeder was doing her best to avoid me.

I saw Zigfried across the room. He looked very bored as he was making polite conversation with some very boring-looking businessmen.

I was a bit worried how Frau von Schroeder (the mean one!) would react to seeing Leon for the first time. I was pretty sure that she had seem glimpses of him from a distance, but they had never met face to face.

This was Frau von Schroeder's reaction: nothing. By being creative, she managed not to look at either me or Leon the whole evening. Oh well. Maybe it was for the better.

The dinner itself was uneventful. I was infinitely thankful that Alexander did not get the urge to host another food fight. However, this was Europe, where dinners start late and end later. I had to be rude and leave early because the younger boys were falling asleep at the table! However, they were so tired that they slept through the night without disturbing me. I was able to catch up on the sleep I had lost the night before.

In the morning, Alexander left with his family. I was happy to return to my everyday life at last.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

A/N: I'm trying to make this story as accurate as possible. However, I am American, and as such do not know everything about German customs. I've done a bit of research, but there's only so much that encyclopedia articles can tell you. I'm especially worried about this chapter because it's about school. What if I get their methods of teaching wrong? What if I get the school hours wrong? And so on and so forth...this chapter is also partially based off of events from my own life.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but unfortunately I do own a nasty case of writer's block.

* * *

September 1994

Leon was finally old enough to go to school. He had been looking forward to it for quite some time. He would often sneak Zigfried's school textbooks up to his room. This was a problem because Zigfried needed those books for his homework. Eventually I got Leon a stack of secondhand books from the school discard bin.

It turned out that, although Zigfried still had troubles in reading, he was quite gifted in math. At the age of ten he had taken, and passed, the test for the most math-oriented secondary school. In Germany, students are given tests to see which secondary school they'll end up in. There's a school for average kids, a business school, and a science and math school. Zigfried wasn't going into the business school because Herr von Schroeder thought the teachers there were lazy and stupid.

I truly thought that Leon could skip primary school and go straight to a secondary school. However, the people in charge of the schools didn't agree with me. They put Leon with the other kids his age. What was worse, Frau von Schroeder would not let Leon "contaminate" the private schools. Leon would have to go to school with the less privileged and more worldly children. This made me really wish that I had some mental tanks for my mental war on Frau von Schroeder!

Despite all of this, Leon could not wait for the first day of his school career!

I tried to prepare Leon as best I could. I gave him all sorts of rules to follow:be nice to the teacher, be nice to your classmates, join in class activities even if you'd rather read, don't stuff yourself with treats from that big paper cone, etc.

Leon was so excited the night before school started that he couldn't sleep. He couldn't even concentrate on reading! By some miracle, he didn't seem a bit tired the next morning. He was even more excited than before!

We ran a bit late because Leon kept checking his school bag to make sure that all of his favorite books were in there and in the correct order of favoriteness. However, we managed to get to the school on time due to some breaking of the speed limit on my part.

I wanted to go in with Leon, but he preferred to just be dropped off at the doors. He said that he wanted to start school as fast as possible! I wanted to tell him that he might get lost without me to help him find his class, but Leon was determined to do everything himself.

I spent most of the day doing equal amounts of housework and worrying.

* * *

That afternoon, I was so anxious about how school went that I arrived to pick Leon up an hour before school let out! Thankfully, I had brought a book to read while I waited.

After what seemed like forever, the kids started exiting the building. After what seemed like forever all over again, I spotted Leon in the crowd. He got in the car and we drove off.

At first Leon said nothing. He was busy eating an apple from the paper cone thingie. However, he had plenty to say when he was done eating. Apparently, he had prepared an entire monologue concering the exact stupidity level of his classmates!

"Leon", I interrupted after a while, "I told you to be nice to the other students. That includes not calling them stupid."

"But they ARE stupid!" Leon insisted. "They don't speak any English and they can't read! The words were right there on the paper, but they didn't pay attention to them! They just made up new words! I corrected them about a million times, but they wouldn't listen!"

I had been afraid that this would happen. I dove into a long lecture about how most kids can't read at that age, and they're not stupid, and that learning to read before one's second birthday is not what the average kid does. Since Leon was an obedient kid, he stopped complaining, but I could tell that he was still thinking the same things.

Leon, I thought, you're gonna have a very long next five years of your life!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A/N: Some events in this chapter come right from the TV show. I'm sorry if I don't get what everybody said exactly right! And-I must admit it-most of the "glasses scenario" actually happened to me. I am WAY too self-pitying...

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, as usual!

* * *

For a long time I was hoping that things would improve for Leon. In a way, I guess they did. He made several friends at school, which both of us were happy about. The only problem was that Frau von Schroeder would not let Leon's friends visit the mansion. So Leon went to their houses and learned the hard way that Germans were not known to be obsessive health-nuts. He often came home with stomachaches. And I, an obsessive health-nut, was not too thrilled about that.

However, most things didn't improve. Leon was never intellectually stimulated at school. Even the rigorous German education style wasn't enough for Leon! Once again, I asked that he be put in a secondary school. And once again, my request was denied. Things didn't get much better as Leon moved up a grade. The other kids could now read, but Leon was still way ahead of all of them.

It got even worse when Leon had to get reading glasses when he was six. His classmates, who used to just keep their distance from Leon, started teasing him. He would go get his glasses for reading activities, and half the class would go to THEIR backpacks just to mock him.

Eventually, the kids tired of this little "game". But now Leon refused to wear his glasses for any reason. Even though this made him get a big headache every time he read something, he would not touch those glasses.

October 1995

Everybody was getting ready for some party that involved ridiculously old-fashioned costumes. Even I had to wear one. I wasn't able to look after Leon like I usually could. The reason: My costume involved an actual corset, which made me feel faint and lightheaded. I was just lying on my bed, using all of my strength just to get enough oxygen.

When I finally managed to loosen the corset strings a bit, I noticed that Leon was not in the apartment. Apparently, he had decided to do some "exploring". I quickly set off to look for him. For obvoius reasons, it wasn't safe for Leon to be wandering around the house on his own!

It was a difficult task looking for Leon. I had never realized that the mansion had so many FRIGGIN ROOMS! What was more, I kept tripping over my skirt.

I did find Leon, but not the way I was expecting to find him. Gesina, who was apparently more used to old-fashioned costumes than me, had gotten to him first. Apparently, Leon had gotten into a bit of trouble with Frau von Schroeder. I tried to ask Leon about what happened, but he ignored me and stared at a piece of lint on the carpet.

I set off to find Frau von Schroeder, leaving Leon with Gesina. I managed to trip over my skirt five more times during that search.

* * *

She was in the drawing room, overseeing Zigfried's schoolwork. I asked if I could had a word with her while already half-dragging her to the door.

As soon as we were out of the earshot of everyone, I turned around and shouted, "ALL RIGHT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

I was quite happy that I had been able to scream even with my corset on!

For several seconds, Frau von Schroeder looked intimidated by me. This was an almost comical image, because I'm barely five feet tall. She had at least six inches and thirty pounds on me!

This moment did not last long, as Frau von Schroeder quickly regained her composure. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said coolly.

Naturally, this made me madder than I've ever been in my whole life! "Of course you know what I'm talking about! When can you get it into your empty little head that NONE OF THIS IS HIS FAULT! HE COULDN'T HELP THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS BIRTH, BUT YOU CAN HELP HOW YOU TREAT HIM, YOU BITCH!"

As soon as that came out of my mouth, I was sure I was going to be fired. Frau von Schroeder indeed seemed to be thinking this over. In the end, however, she apparently decided that it would be more trouble finding a new nurse than keeping me.

She turned her back on me and stated, "I don't have time for this sort of thing..." As she walked out of the room, I had to resist the urge to pull her long red ponytail right out of her scalp!

I went back upstairs to collect Leon and told him he was not allowed to go wandering around the house on his own ever again. He seemed almost glad that I said that.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this chapter sucks, but my mom is vacuuming the room that I'm typing in. Every time that I started to get into a groove, she'd vacuum right next to me and I'd get distracted and lose my place! However, I think I found a good explanation for why all the women were wearing long dresses in Leon's flashback scene!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Bet that statement came out of left field! XD

* * *

February 1996

Frau von Schroeder acted like nothing had happened. What a shocker! Life just continued as usual.

Zigfried, however, was growing up. One day I caught him sneaking dirty magazines into his room. I immediately confiscated them, much to his annoyance. Thankfully, Leon wasn't at that stage yet. He did sneak a look at the magazines, but just complained that there were too many pictures and not enough words!

After that, I started making secret raids of Zigfried's room. I found more of those magazines every time.

I did mention this to Frau von Schroeder, but she said something along the lines of, "You must be mistaken. Zigfried is much too cultured to do that!" Gesina couldn't convince her anymore than I could.

One day, I was making yet another raid when who should I see but Herr von Schroeder! I hadn't seen him in ages. I knew what he was capable of, so I was very wary.

He shouted (did his voice have any other volume?) that I was to pack my things, because we were going to Japan! He then stomped away. Naturally, I was extremely confused.

Thankfully, Gesina saved the day as usual. She explained that Herr von Schroeder would be attending a party hosted by a Japanese business rival. Leon was allowed to come too, but he would have to play the role of my son again. I was to pose as Zigfried's nurse. Gesina had even packed our suitcases for us! I wished that she would go with us so I wouldn't make a fool of myself. However, Gesina still had her overseeing duties to attend to.

* * *

The plane ride was luckily as uneventful as a plane ride can be. Zigfried was apparently reading a book for school, but I strongly suspected that he was holding a magazine between the covers of the book. Leon actually WAS reading a book. Lately he had started reading a lot of fairy tales.

Leon and I were allowed to ride first class, but Frau von Schroeder kept giving us dirty looks over her shoulder.

After we arrived in Tokyo, I just wanted to sleep off my jet lag. However, the party was in four hours. After we arrived at our hotel, we barely had time to get ready.

I knew that Frau von Schroeder would want me to wear something simple, so I wouldn't take any attention from her. I chose a knee-length blue wool dress. Its only decoration was a floppy black velvet bow on the collar.

I had not thought that mansions could get any bigger than the von Schroeder house. I was wrong. The place where the party was must have been twice as big as the von Schroeder estate!

My jet lag was killing me, so I just slumped in a chair at the edge of the ballroom. Thankfully, Leon found a little boy his age to play with.

I was so out of it that I didn't notice the person beside me for the longest time. When I finally opened my eyes, I was very surprised. A young boy about Zigfried's age glared at me for interrupting his thoughts.

I started to say hello to him before I realized that he was most likely Japanese and not able to understand me. I was startled when he answered in nearly perfect English.

I asked him, "How do you know so much English? You're what, twelve?"

"I was eleven last October. And English isn't that hard. I been studying it almost two years." he answered.

"I'VE been studying", I corrected automatically. Then I realized what I had said and apologized.

"Don't say sorry. My teachers correct me all the time, even though I probably know more than them. They say things wrong, too. But I'm not allowed to say they are wrong!"

I couldn't think of anything to say. What a strange kid this was!

Now the boy almost seemed to be talking to himself. "I hate my life. Why can't it be like it was? Even the orphanage was better than this!"

Once again, I could think of nothing to say.

I was about to get up and leave when a person came up and spoke to the kid. The kid turned to me and said, "I must go meet someone. It was nice talking to you."

I was now completely weirded out! I went off to look for Leon. He was happily having a mock swordfight with the nice little boy he met, so I went back to my chair. I fell asleep almost immediately.

Much later, I was shaken awake by Leon.

"The party's over!" he stated. "Zigfried is in a bad mood because he had to talk to that businessman guy and his son. I think he's reading the magazines again!"

"I don't doubt it." I mumbled. I followed Leon to the taxi waiting outside.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I actually said to my mom that I would chain myself to my computer until I finished updating this! There are no actual chains, but I'm not going to let myself leave my room. My pitiful excuse for not updating? Writer's block. That, and I've pretty much moved on to the GX fandom. But I will finish what I started in this fandom!

This chapter may be crappy, but at least it IS a chapter! Hopefully, things will speed up once I get to the Grand Prix.

Disclaimer: Despite my long respite from writing this, I still don't own anything.

* * *

I was sadly mistaken if I thought things would improve once we got back to Germany. If anything, they got worse. Herr von Schroeder started having alcohol as soon as he woke up every single morning. Frau von Schroeder had immersed herself in a big landscaping project. Not that she actually did any of the landscaping. She would sit in a lawn chair, champagne in hand, and watch the servants do the work.

Zigfried no longer had time for his dirty magazines. His father was making him take business classes virtually around the clock. I got the feeling they were working on some kind of product, but whatever it was, it was TOP-SECRET.

I thought I could trace this increase in work directly back to when we got back from Japan.

A year after we went to the party, the von Schroeders hosted the Japanese businesspeople at their own house. This did not put Herr von Schroeder in a good mood, but he knew it was mandatory courtesy.

This time, Leon and I did not attend the festivities. We stayed in our apartment. I don't think I heard a peep out of Leon that night, because he was too absorbed in his book!

Poor Leon. He was withdrawing into his own private world more and more as the months passed. I think this was mainly due to school. He was now in the German equivalent to third grade, and the schoolwork was no more challenging to him than the work of kindergarten.

After a while, I decided enough was enough. I pulled Leon out of public school and started home-schooling him. Frau von Schroeder was not thrilled about having Leon in the house all day. She only allowed it after I promised to never let Leon leave the apartment.

* * *

One of the benefits of home-schooling was that Leon and I had virtually 100 control over extracurricular activities. We managed to sneak out of the house when Frau von Schroeder wasn't looking.

Sometimes, we went on elaborate field trips. We toured the historic parts of Berlin that hadn't been bombed in World War Two. We must have gone to all the museums of Germany twice. We even went to Paris once! That trip was quite memorable. I kept sighing over all the latest fashions in the boutiques, and Leon got annoyed because he wanted to visit every single place mentioned in the guidebook.

But we couldn't do things like that all the time. We were very well-off, but our money supply was not unlimited. Thankfully, Leon was perfectly content to visit the local park. Unfortunately, he still had an aversion to exercise, and would sit around and observe the things around him.

It turned out to be one of those park visits that would change Leon's life forever. Whether it was for better or worse, I never decided.

April 1999

It was an unusually warm spring day at our usual park. Leon had retreated to a patch of shade. While he was there, he got involved in a game that other boys his age were playing. It was called "Pokemon cards".

I had heard of Pokemon, but I didn't think it would be the type of thing Leon would be interested in. Boy, was I wrong! Within a month, it was Leon's goal in life to collect every single card. When he wasn't doing that, schoolwork, or reading, he'd watch Pokemon on TV.

After a few months, Leon announced that he was growing out of Pokemon. But he was still interested in collecting cards of some sort. It took me a few tries to find something he liked, but I succeeded by the end of the year.

This game was even more complex than Pokemon. It was a strategy game known as "Duel Monsters".

* * *

A/N: Sorry to end it there, but I needed to save some stuff for the next chapter, which I think will be about Leon's rise to fame in tournaments.

I chose Pokemon as his first interest because the Pokemon-to-Duel Monsters transition is a common phenomenon.

Finally, I'm sorry if my "Melissa" voice seems rusty. I'm really out of practice!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Aargh! I've let six weeks go by without updating! But this time I have an excuse. It's the last few days of my time at high school, and I have had to work nonstop. First a term paper, then AP tests, and now final exams and stuff. But I did manage to find a moment where I could work on this.

Here's hoping I finish this before going off to college...But I'll be glad to at least get this chapter out of the way. There's a major plot point in it that explains something from the show. The readers of this will probably either go, "I totally saw this coming!", or "DANG! How could I NOT see that coming!"

Disclaimer (because Mediaminerfics need to have these now): I still own absolutely no part of Yu Gi Oh.

* * *

Like any subject Leon put his mind to, he quickly mastered Duel Monsters. Or at least I thought so. It was hard for me to tell for sure, because I got a headache every time Leon tried to explain all the rules.

But at any rate, Leon was quickly running out of competition in our local park. It got to the point that no one wanted to play with him anymore.

I could not let that happen. Not just when he was getting some friends! So I started looking around to see if there were any Duel Monsters tournaments in Germany.

* * *

January 2000

It took a while, but I finally found one! Unfortunately, I happened to see the advertisement in the middle of a crowded department store. Many people stared as I did a "victory dance" of sorts. It was lucky for Leon that he wasn't with me, because he was fast approaching the age where everything I did was embarrassing and idiotic.

Not that he ever said that to my face, of course, but I could tell what he was thinking.

However, for once he was just as excited as I was when I told him what I had seen. We went to register as soon as we could.

The line for registering was nearly a quarter mile long. We ended up having to park the car some distance away from the actual building.

Several hours passed. I was hungry, and my feet hurt. But if Leon shared these complaints, he didn't show it at all. He got more and more excited as the line moved forward approximately a millimeter at a time.

The sun was directly overhead as we finally got into the building. Even then, we had almost a half an hour longer to wait!

We finally reached the registration desk, though. It was very tall. Leon had to put his chin on the edge of the desk in order to see clearly. I would have scolded him, but I was only a few inches taller than him and was tempted to do the same thing!

The registration person was obviously in a hurry. He was supposed to check the ID of everyone, but had fallen back just to asking the people's names.

"Okay. Name?" He asked boredly.

I replied, 'Melissa Wilson. This is Leon."

Okay, so MAYBE I could have been a bit more clear. But did I ever actually SAY Leon's last name was Wilson? Nope. The guy just assumed it. Heh heh heh. I can definitely be tricky sometimes!

It was thus that Leon began his tournament career under an assumed name. Maybe this was technically illegal, but I thought it would be the best for both Leon and the adult von Schreoeders.

There was no way that little kiddie park games could prepare Leon for the rigors of an actual tournament. At first, he lost a lot. He considered giving up, but I encouraged him not to.

It was good that I did that, because Leon steadily improved. In just a month, he had finished in the top four of a tournament that involved hundreds of people!

I think Frau von Schroeder was beginning to suspect that we were doing something behind her back. I kept having to think up excuses for where we kept going, and these excuses soon got quite lame.

I think she may have even had someone following us.

May 2000

Leon had just won his first tournament. I suggested that we go to a restaurant and celebrate. Leon started to agree, but then abruptly left, saying that he had to go check something out.

It took him quite some time to come back. And when he did, something was definitely up. He was very quiet. Well, he had always been quiet, but now he seemed almost...depressed.

"Come on", I said as we were in the restaurant, "What is bothering you? You won a tournament. You should be happy!"

Leon took a forkful of some meat dish that was most definitely not on our usual low-fat diet.

"Can you please stop bugging me? I know I sound rude, but it's nothing you would understand. I'll be fine!"

I raised an eyebrow, but left him alone.

* * *

Okay. I hope this chapter was decent!

I don't think I need to explain what's bothering Leon. I think everybody knows or can at least guess.

If you're still stumped, here's a hint: Let's just say that Melissa was correct in thinking someone was following them.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I am getting kind of sick of this story, so I'm afraid it might suck. But I really do want to finish it! I just want one chapter fic that I actually completed!

At least the Grand Prix part will be soon-maybe even the chapter after this.

* * *

For as long as I had been working at the von Schroeder house, one thing had remained constant: nothing changed. A nuclear bomb could have exploded in the courtyard, and they'd just carry on with their empty lives as if nothing had happened.

But all of a sudden, things WERE changing. And I didn't think I liked it.

First of all, Zigfried suddenly was very interested in spending time with Leon. As soon as Leon was done with his lessons for the day, he'd be whisked out the door for some top-secret mission.

He never got back until WAY past his bedtime, and neither he nor Zigfried ever told me what they were up to. Nope, I did not like this new development at all.

Exactly how they were finding time to do this secret stuff, I had no idea. For there were many other changes occuring simultaneously.

Herr von Schroeder's alcoholism finally appeared to be taking its toll. One day, he just left without a trace. He hadn't died. Or if he did, they were sure keeping it a secret, because there were no funeral plans whatsoever.

The rumor was that Herr von Schroeder had suffered a nervous breakdown and was living in a mental institution. No one knew for sure, though.

It was hard to tell whether Frau von Schroeder was happy or sad at her husband's disappearance. Of course, we all knew she hated him. But now that she had no one to fight with, she was extremely bored.

There were also rumors that the two had divorced, but again these were unconfirmed.

Whatever the case, Zigfried was now more or less in charge of...whatever the heck his father did! It was odd that I had never thought to find out what Herr von Schroeder's occupation was. But then again, I did know that it paid a lot of money and was some kind of corporation, and that's about all I can understand about business anyway!

Apparently, Leon had a role in this company too. One day, I found a briefcase in his room! I was rather annoyed about that. Eleven-year-olds are not even supposed to HAVE briefcases! I said as much to Zigfried, but he never really paid attention.

Sometimes I missed the old Zigfried, as bratty as he may have been. At least then he had paid attention to me! Now he just saw me as yet another servant.

This attitude was rubbing off a bit even on Leon! Oh sure, he was still as polite as ever to me, and he still acknowledged my existence, but he had definitely changed. He was colder; more distant.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was growing up. But my Leon had been a baby practically yesterday! He couldn't be growing up!

I remembered how my parents had said the same things when I was Leon's age. Then, I had scoffed at them. Now, I was in the same position. I wasn't exactly young anymore either. I was starting to see gray hairs in my hairbrush, and my physique was not what it used to be. I was pushing forty, and Leon was on the brink of being a teenager, and there was nothing I could do to change either of those facts.

* * *

December 2001

Whatever Zigfried was up to, he at least had enough charity to let Leon go for the holidays. I guess I should be thankful that Germans love Christmas so much.

Leon did seem to revert back to his old self for a while. Someone (most likely Zigfried) had made it so both of us could join in on the festivities. This was actually very pleasant, despite Frau von Shroeder's usual ignoring of us.

I tried to thank Zigfried, but he just waved it off. He was just too busy working to really get into the holiday spirit. As soon as he could, he vanished right back into his office.

One night shortly after Christmas, though, Leon walked up to me.

"I wanted to warn you about something. Zigfried said I could tell you, but no one else," he said.

I had the feeling I wouldn't like this one bit, but let him talk anyway.

"Well, we're planning something big," he continued. "Not even I really know what it is, but it involves the business rivals from Japan. You remember when we went to that party, right?"

The jet lag, and that strange little boy. Yes, I remembered it all too clearly.

"Anyway, it will require us to travel again. Zigfried will let you come too. I'm not allowed to say anything more."

Naturally, I had many questions.

"Just wait a minute, Leon! Where exactly are you traveling to? Is what you are doing safe? Why is your brother dragging you into this? When...?"

Leon cut me off at that point. He simply said that he could say no more, and went to bed.

Why had Zigfried not told me this before? I would have to accept his offer to go with them, and keep as close an eye on both of them as possible!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Still don't own YGO.

A/N: I personally like it when people give reasons for doing odd things. Therefore, I present my official List of Reasons why I haven't updated in a while.

1. College, of course.

2. Lack of reviews. I don't want to be a review hog, but it gets a tiny bit depressing just writing for two or three loyal reviewers.

3. The original Yu Gi Oh has been over for months, and I'm starting to forget stuff. Also, I'm into GX a lot more.

4. I realized I mixed up aspects of the original show and the dub in here.

5. Timeline issues. According to GX, the original YGO took place around 1996. And as you know, this one does not. Maybe I'll just make this slightly AU, but it's difficult writing this when it's set at the wrong time.

And those are the big reasons. I probably have some smaller ones, but I can't remember them right now.

But I PROMISED, DARN IT! I feel like I WILL finish this fic, even if it takes ten years! Maybe I'll just make the chapters longer, so it won't take as many chapters to finish.

Sorry about the long note, but it had to be said. Now here's the fic!

* * *

Weeks passed, and then months. I heard no more about these secret plans.

In fact, I was hardly hearing anything from Leon at all. He had more or less moved out of our apartment, and into some other room in the mansion. I wasn't sure exactly where.

I sent a lot of notes to Zigfried complaining about this, but he never saw fit to reply. I saw him even less than I did Leon. He never appeared at dinner, which was usually the only time I had contact with Leon.

Life had practically slowed to a halt. But just as everything was about to become completely stagnant, events started to happen at a breakneck speed.

* * *

May 2002

One day, I was out in the garden, tending to a flowerbed I had just plotted this year. I needed something to do now that Leon wasn't my charge anymore.

At first I thought I was hallucinating when I saw Leon running towards me in the distance. Similar things had happened. Some mornings, I had Leon's breakfast all ready for him before I remembered that he wouldn't be there to eat it.

However, this seemed to finally be real. He had finally made it to where I was.

For a second, I was worried about how I looked. I was covered in sweat, and I had more than one smudge of dirt on my face. But Leon didn't seem to care. For the first time in months, he was smiling at me!

"I missed you, Mo...I mean Melissa." he said.

Tut tut. He was now almost thirteen and still forgot that I wasn't his mother! But really, I didn't care in the least. The old Leon was back, even if just for a little while!

For several minutes, we just sat together silently. Leon was looking at all the different kinds of flowers I had planted.

Leon had apparently been going through a growth spurt, because he was now a full inch taller than me (even if I was a petite person), and I could swear his voice was starting to crack. I noticed that latter thing when Leon finally began speaking.

"I came here to tell you that the plans have been finalized. We're flying to California tomorrow. Zigfried will take his private jet, but we'll be flying on a regular plane."

I thought it odd that Zigfried would want to be apart from Leon after keeping him away from me for so long. Leon sure seemed to be happy about the plans, though.

"I've never been to California, Melissa! Have you been? Is it fun? Well, even if it isn't fun, I'll get to be in the tournament and play in the theme parks and..."

I interrupted, perhaps a bit sharply, by saying, "Hold on a minute! What tournament? Why hasn't anyone told me about this?"

Leon assured me that Zigfried had arranged everything. I was apparently just coming along because Leon had convinced Zigfried to allow it.

Well, in any case, I could use a vacation.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent packing and finalizing plans. I didn't see Leon again until the next morning. He was as excited as he was the previous day. Zigfried had disappeared to who-knows-where, so Leon and I went to the airport alone.

Leon's enthusiasm didn't waver a bit. Throughout the picking up of tickets, the walks through the weapon detection lines, and the stint in the waiting area, he talked my ear half off about just how exciting this was.

He spent most of the flight over to America reading various guidebooks and pointing out various locations of interest to me.

We transferred flights in New York. If we didn't have another plane to catch, I'm pretty sure Leon would have been happy to have his vacation here. He couldn't stop looking at all the different stores and people crowding Kennedy Airport.

But we didn't have long to look at all this, and soon we were on our way to San Francisco.

* * *

We were not met at the airport by Zigfried, as I had been expecting. Instead, an American who appeared to be a bodyguard of some sort showed us to a taxi.

Leon had finally run out of things to say, and was content to just look out the car window.

Our destination was obviously that group of theme parks Leon had mentioned on our way over here. The sign read, "Kaiba Land USA".

I was pretty sure that Kaiba was the surname of one of Zigfried's rivals. Could Zigfried be using Leon to infiltrate the park and find out its secrets? Somehow, I doubted it. Zigfried did not seem to be the type of person to build an amusement park.

But before I could ponder it further, Leon suddenly poked me in the arm as we were getting out of the car.

"Do you see that girl?" He whispered urgently.

I looked where Leon told me to, but I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I told Leon this, and he looked again. He said in a very disappointed voice that she had just been there a second ago; he was sure of it!

And it may have been my imagination, but Leon's face looked slightly flushed. Was this what I thought it was? If so, Leon really WAS growing up!

Fortunately for Leon, he ran into a group of boys his age. I let Leon go hang out with them as long as he promised to meet me in this spot by dinner time.

When Leon headed off, I didn't have much to do, so I just sat on a bench eating ice cream and looking at all the other kids having fun.

* * *

A/N: Finally! The Grand Prix is upon us!

In case you didn't know, this is the first day, when the computer malfunctions and shuts everyone in that building. I'll definitely have to brush up on the series of events.

Well, at any rate, Leon is sure going to have a lot to tell Melissa when they meet up again!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Just a few more chapters...just a few more...(DIES)

Ahem...anyway...I hope I got the sequence of events in the Grand Prix right. Some stuff may be changed slightly, but it's not like Melissa is going to barge into the middle of all the important duels and change the outcome.

Disclaimer: Y'all know the drill. I don't own Yu Gi Oh.

* * *

It was almost time for the park to close for the night. I hoped Leon would come back soon. Otherwise, being the embarrassing parent I was, I would have him paged over the intercom system. But thankfully I didn't have to resort to that. Leon showed up around the time he was supposed to.

There was no need to ask if he had a good time, because it was obvious he had. He was in full chatterbox mode.

"Wow, a lot of fun stuff sure happened! We went on a lot of rides, and I made a lot of friends, and I got to meet Yugi Mutou, and..."

I was drawing a blank at that last part.

"Uh," I said VERY intelligently, "Yugi who-now?"

Leon was in total shock.

"You mean you haven't heard of Yugi Mutou?" he exclaimed.

The name sure didn't ring a bell, and I said so.

"But EVERYONE'S heard of Yugi! He's really famous! And he's really nice, too; you'd like him!"

And with that, he flashed an autographed picture of this mystery person whom I should have apparently heard about long ago.

Oh yeah, HIM! I had seen a poster of him in Leon's room and laughed at his hair for a good five minutes. But I hadn't heard his name before. And speaking of hair...

"Leon," I said, "You need a haircut."

He protested at this. Apparently, it was one of his superstitions that he would get bad luck if he cut his hair during a winning streak.

"And besides," he rationalized, "This is nothing compared to Zigfried's hair."

Well, he had a point there. But I wasn't done complaining yet.

"Can you at least wear a different outfit tomorrow? Or at least put on a T-shirt? I thought I told you that long shirts and shorts don't go together!"

But he was no more willing to obey this. As he said it, this was his "lucky" outfit.

Then, Leon abruptly looked at his watch.

"Oh man, we're going to be late for the party! We have to move!"

Once again, I was out of the loop. I had heard nothing about any party, but I figured that it couldn't be harmful as long as he let me come and supervise him. Leon agreed to this on one condition.

"You have to pretend you don't know me. Zigfried wants people to think that I don't have any family with me."

I didn't like this, but I had no time to argue. Apparently, the party started in half an hour.

After a dash across the park and a short train ride, we had arrived at the "Hotel Kaiba". This Kaiba guy sure liked naming things after himself, didn't he?

I had to wait to enter the lobby until five minutes after Leon walked in, so people wouldn't figure out that we knew each other. Part of me just wanted to walk in with him anyway. However, I also didn't want to get on Zigfried's bad side. I did, however, vow to keep my eyes on Leon from a distance.

When I finally did walk in, I found myself at a very upper-class party. There were TV cameras rolling and everything! I felt slightly out of place in my jeans and T-shirt, but no one seemed to notice me. All the attention was on the guests of honor.

I started to wonder just what kinds of drugs some of these people were on. What, were they celebrating Halloween early?

There was a guy in a doctor uniform, a detective guy, some weirdo who reminded me somewhat of Tarzan, and even a boy who was apparently dressed up as Harry Potter. Some people were in even weirder costumes than that as well, but I didn't have time to look at them. For who should walk into the room just then than Zigfried himself!

Zigfried didn't seem to notice me or Leon. He was involved in a dispute with someone named Seto Kaiba.

So THAT was the elusive Kaiba! I had expected him to be a lot older. Had I met him before? He looked a bit familiar.

But, yet again, my thoughts were interrupted as the lights dimmed, a guy made a few introductory remarks, and...

OH MY GOD LEON WAS ON THE STAGE! Where was my camera when I needed it?

I was tempted to not pay attention to the other people being introduced, since everybody should know Leon was the only important one! However, I couldn't help but see who Leon might be up against.

There were about ten people in those funny costumes, plus a young woman who was wearing a revealing dress, a girl about Leon's age, a teenager, an old guy, and Zigfried himself.

Then the attention was focused on that Yugi guy with the funny hair. I had to clap my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing at the hair again. I heard Yugi talking with the teenager in what sounded like Japanese.

And then the party wrapped up, and it was time for Leon and I to go to our hotel room. Well, technically it was HIS hotel room, but he said he would let me "camp out" in it, since there were two beds.

* * *

It was two AM.

I had been asleep for a while, but went up to get a drink of water. I expected to see Leon fast asleep in the other bed. Instead, he was sitting at the table, looking over the cards in his deck and muttering things under his breath.

I walked over and told him to go to bed.

"But this is important!" he protested.

"I don't care. You need your sleep. How can you do your best tomorrow if you're dead on your feet?"

Leon mumbled something slightly rebelliously, but got into bed anyway. He was so tired, he fell asleep before he could even switch off the light.

I got back into my own bed. Tomorrow would be a big day!

* * *

A/N: I had episode summaries up in a separate window while writing this chapter, so I think I got all the canon events close enough to correct.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Today was my eighteenth birthday! Yay! Now I'm old enough to vote and smoke and visit dirty websites!

I was kinda hoping someone would write me a birthday fic. But alas, it didn't happen. So I decided to update one of MY fics instead. And what better one to update than this. Because it isn't dead. Really...I swear...I hope.

Okay...anyway...what episode was I on again? (Goes to Yu-Jyo site for reference)

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

* * *

"Leon...it's time to wake up..."

Leon didn't budge. He was fast asleep. Didn't I tell him that he needed his sleep? Typical almost-teenager...thinking he could stay up half the night without any side-effects.

When I got him up, I was definitely going to say, "I told you so"!

I tried once more to wake him up. It didn't work, so I tried again. And AGAIN.

Okay. At the party, the Kaiba guy had clearly stated that the participants of the tournament would have to report for the first round at 9 AM sharp, or else risk being disqualified. Right now, it was 8 AM. I would have to resort to extreme measures in order to get Leon up on time.

With that thought, I yanked the blankets off Leon and started dragging him out of bed by his feet.

THAT did the trick. Leon slouched out of bed, asking why I had let him sleep in so late. All I did was sweatdrop.

Somehow, we got ready on time. It was a lovely day out as we reported to the Kaiba Dome (and the apparent tradition of Kaiba naming stuff after himself continued).

Leon and I parted ways. I went amongst the spectators, and Leon stood in a line of the other contestants. I noted that he was standing next to that young blonde girl from last night.

Zigfried was farther down the line, and made no discernible sign of even knowing Leon's existence. I thought that to be odd, since they had been so close over the past few years. But then again, EVERYTHING about this tournament seemed strange to me in some way.

People were starting to fill up the spectator seats. A middle-aged man sat next to me and immediately struck up a conversation.

"Hello! What's a beautiful woman like you doing all alone?" he said in an upper-crust British accent.

Oh boy. I was now sitting next to...what was the word I had heard Leon use once?...oh yes, that's right, a PLAYER.

He was handsome enough, I had to give him that. He was maybe five years older than me, but had brown hair with hardly a hint of gray. His eyes were hazel, and looking somewhere that looked suspiciously lower than my face.

Well, if he was looking where I thought he was, he would be sorely disappointed. I had always been skinny, and my figure could more or less be described as "ironing board-esque".

To distract this seeming pervert, I said, "Well, I guess I could ask the same thing of you...why are YOU all alone?"

The guy replied that he had recently been divorced. Gee, I wonder why?

I started to say something back, but was drowned out by the sudden sound of fireworks. The tournament was about to officially begin.

* * *

The rest of the morning passed by fairly quickly.

Just when I thought that Kaiba couldn't get any more egocentric, he surprised me. He flew into the middle of the stadium on a JET PACK. I hadn't even known that jet packs actually existed outside of James Bond movies.

Leon's first match was against that slightly creepy guy in the doctor uniform. The "duel" (I was actually starting to learn the terminology of this game!) would take place near the park's main roller coaster, which was some distance away from the stadium. I was quite relived to find an excuse to get away from Mr. Pervert.

Fortunately, Leon won pretty handily. After the duel, he wandered off somewhere, and I was alone once again.

I started wandering as well. I was just having fun looking at all the different attractions. Each one seemed to incorporate the monsters from the game in some way or another.

By sheer chance, I eventually stumbled upon Zigfried's first duel in the tournament. There seemed to be some confusion about who his opponent was. The guy whose picture was displayed on the scoreboard was some Arabic guy, but the actual people who showed up were two nerdy-looking boys a bit older than Leon.

Despite this discrepancy, Zigfried insisted on dueling these new opponents. And the killer was, he showed no qualms about facing them both_ at the same time_! Same old Zigfried.

In the end, it didn't even matter. Zigfried knocked both the people out in one turn. Apparently, this was a rare occurrence in the game, since everyone watching was stunned to silence.

After this duel, it was time for a lunch break. Round Two would start at 1 PM, according to the schedule. It wouldn't take as long as Round One, since there would be only half as many duels.

As I looked for a place to eat, questions were racing through my mind: What were Zigfried and Leon up to? Just where had I seen Kaiba before? Did Leon have a crush on the blonde girl? And, most importantly...would I ever be able to find something to eat that didn't have a whole days' worth of fats and sugar? Just because I was on vacation didn't mean I wanted to give up my low-fat food regimen.

* * *

A/N: I really have no clue when I'll be able to update next. College, being what it is, tends to have a ton of homework.

And yes, Mr. Pervert will be making another appearance. But what is his significance? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! (People who have read the story VERY CAREFULLY might be able to guess)


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Oh snap! Could it be? Yep, after three years I finally updated! I had considered this story to be dead, but then I suddenly got a weird burst of energy. I rewatched all of the Grand Championship episodes before writing this. Hopefully, there'll be just one chapter after this, and I finally thought up an ending!

* * *

I walked around the park for what seemed like hours. This place was as bad as Disneyworld, in terms of how easy it was to get lost. At least the park was now only open to a select few, so there weren't any huge crowds.

I was so absorbed in the sights, sounds, and even smells, I completely lost track of the time. The next thing I knew, an announcement was broadcast over the PA system, saying that the final matchup would begin in half an hour! I couldn't believe it…I had missed Leon dueling! Twice! I knew full well that I can be on the ditzy side, but this was a new low even for me. As it turned out, though, I didn't have to go find Leon. He came to me.

"Hey, Melissa," he said as he found me near the thing that raises the riders up really high and hurtles them back down. He looked tired after all that dueling. I still wasn't sure that this was a good idea…he was a growing boy, and the schedule was grueling. And…wait, was that a cup of coffee in his hand? He knew full well that he wasn't allowed to drink that yet!

"But Melissa…Zigfried said I could!" he whined as I confiscated the cup.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Did Zigfried change your diapers when you were a baby?" I inquired.

"Well, no, but…"

"Did _he_ clean the carpet after you puked all over it?"

"Ew…but that's not…"

"And did _he_ wipe your runny nose when you had a cold?"

"Melissa, people might _hear_ you! Okay, fine…no more coffee!"

I noticed that his fingers were trembling a bit. Looks like I stopped his caffeine binge just in time.

After I threw the cup away, Leon sat on a bench and looked at his feet. He seemed nervous, which wasn't too surprising. This was the biggest tournament he'd ever been in, as far as I knew.

Finally, he said, "Well, I'm going to be facing Zigfried in the next match."

Poor thing…no _wonder_ he was so nervous! He would be facing his own brother in front of a huge audience. I don't think that I'd ever be able to do something that intense.

But I didn't think that was all that was bothering him. It wasn't like him to be skittish about a duel like this. There was most likely something to this that I didn't know about. I had no time to ask any more questions, though, since the PA broadcast the fifteen-minute warning right then.

* * *

We got a nasty surprise as we were walking back to the Kaiba Dome. Who should we run into but Mr. Player!

"Fancy meeting you here!" he beamed as he scrutinized me once again. Leon shifted his feet warily.

"And is that your son? How do you do, my name is James Chisholm."

Leon remained silent, and did not shake the man's outstretched hand. Though I really didn't blame him, it was my duty as a mother to make sure he was polite.

"Manners, Leon…" I warned him. Leon heaved a sigh of great suffering.

"Okay, fine, I'm Leon Wilson," he said grudgingly. As they looked at each other, I noticed idly that their eyes were a very similar color. Maybe Mr. Chisholm was a distant relative of Frau von Schroeder. She came from an old family too, so there were probably cousins of hers scattered all over the place.

Mr. Chisholm loved to hear himself talk. He was a talent scout, he said, for a professional league that was just getting set up. He figured that this tournament would have many participants with potential. Finally, Leon managed to escape, with the excuse that he had to be at the arena for the duel. I managed to lose myself in the crowd shortly after that.

Leon looked so small and brave, standing up there on that tall pedestal. I wanted to run up and hug him, but I knew the guards wouldn't like that.

I did think it was slightly strange how Leon and Zigfried were interacting. When they shuffled each other's decks, they barely even made eye contact. For the past couple of years they had been so close, but now it was like they were meeting for the first time. Something was definitely off, but unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it. I felt so helpless. I was the mommy…I was supposed to know everything!

I would start getting answers sooner than I thought, however. During the introductions, I was sure that either the announcer had made a mistake, or I had heard wrong. Why did they say that Zigfried's last name was "Lloyd"? I had only just noticed this, when Kaiba himself barged into the proceedings! He said that Leon was the automatic winner. Leon looked about as confused as I felt by all this.

I couldn't believe what I heard next. Kaiba accused Zigfried of hacking into his company's computers! That couldn't be right. I _knew_ Zigfried. Or at least I thought I did. At any rate, I was sure that he was truly a good person at heart, despite his often bratty behavior. I had to jam my knuckles into my mouth to keep from crying out that this was all a mistake.

But…but…Zigfried wasn't denying the accusations! In fact, he was readily admitting to them! Why would he even want to do something like that? If he had coerced Leon into this, I didn't know what I'd do.

Before I knew it, Leon had disappeared among the spectators, and Zigfried was dueling Kaiba! Now that I was finally getting a good look at Kaiba, I _knew_ I'd seen him before. And since I don't know too many Japanese people, I quickly figured out where I knew him from. It was that party all those years ago! Now that I was thinking about it, I was kicking myself for not seeing it earlier.

As the duel progressed, Zigfried grew increasingly unhinged and paranoid. He began to rant about how Kaiba had stolen his ideas. Was this seriously the same person as the little boy who used to sit on my lap? He needed help. As soon as we got back to Germany, I decided to find him a therapist, no matter what Frau von Schroeder said.

Inevitably, Zigfried lost. I tried to talk to him, but by the time I traversed all of the rows of seats, he was nowhere to be found. I did manage to find Leon, though. Since Zigfried had been disqualified, now Leon was going to face Yugi Mutou. Before, he had been so excited about meeting his hero, but now he was walking slowly, as if he was dreading the upcoming bout.

"Leon," I pleaded, "Let me handle this, okay? I'll talk to Zigfried, and you don't have to worry about a thing."

Leon regarded me coolly. He looked much older than his twelve years right now.

"No offense, Melissa," he said, "But this is entirely out of your league."

He walked off before I could protest. What had happened to my baby? I had raised him since the day he was born, but now I had no place in his life.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Well, after SEVEN FREAKING YEARS, here is the end! It might not be a very GOOD end, but it's still an END! To tell the truth, the last reviewer kind of shamed me into it...I hadn't known that anyone was still interested in this! :P Then I dreamed about Leon last night, and took that as a sign to wrap things up. And I fixed up the other chapters a bit while I was at it. And who knows, maybe I'll come back someday to add on to this ending.

Well, anyway, this was my first fic, so it is a bit emotional to finish it. I hope my original reviewers are still out there somewhere to see this.

* * *

We had all gathered at yet another arena, one in the shape of a castle this time. I was confused why they just didn't have this one at the Kaiba Dome as well. I decided that Kaiba probably just wanted to show off as much of the park as possible. After what seemed like forever, I finally saw Leon emerge onto the dueling platform.

Leaping Leon Wilson, the emcee had called him. Who'd come up with that one? Had it been Leon himself? At any rate, the moniker couldn't possibly be less fitting right now. Leon may have fooled the rest of the crowd, but I could tell that he was a nervous wreck under the brave show. But this Yugi didn't seem to be perturbed at all. He looked like the perfect role model. Could it be possible that he was better for Leon than I was?

At any rate, my thoughts were rudely cut off as Mr. Chisholm said, "And we meet again!" It took all of my willpower to not throttle him as he sat down next to me for the second time.

"What a coincidence," I ground out through my teeth.

"Yes, isn't it?" Mr. Chisholm said slightly absently, "That young man is going to go far. You must be proud to have him as a son."

I softened slightly towards him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. I smiled a bit and was about to thank him when he continued, "But it's strange, isn't it…he doesn't look like you at all!"

"Yes, genetics are weird like that," I muttered. Just then, the duel began. Leon continued his arrogant attitude that wasn't like him at all. Even Yugi, previously unflappable, seemed a bit taken aback. And then everything started falling apart after just a few turns. I was about to try to find a way up to Kaiba and stop this nonsense, but another man reached him just as I was rising from my chair.

"Now what's going on?" asked Mr. Chisholm as Kaiba read over a piece of paper. My thoughts exactly, but I knew it wasn't anything good. Then I saw Zigfried half-hidden behind a wall! Kaiba had noticed him too.

I had had enough.

"Zigfried von Schroeder! You stop this right now!" I shouted as loudly as I could. But even that was no match for the noise of the crowd. And I saw now that it would virtually impossible to reach either Zigfried or Leon on foot. I tried anyway, but there was a locked gate I couldn't get past. All I could do now was go back to my seat and watch in horror.

Kaiba said loudly enough for me and Mr. Chisholm to hear, "Throwing away your own life wasn't good enough, so you had to drag your own brother down with you?!"

My mind was working furiously as everyone gasped. How had they found out?! Just…how? I had certainly never said anything. They must have made a lucky guess.

Next to me, Mr. Chisholm appeared to be thinking equally hard as both Zigfried and Leon admitted to this.

"You can't be Zigfried's mother," he was saying rapidly in my general direction, "Annelise is Zigfried's mother; everyone knows that. You're probably not Leon's mother either, but why did he use your last name? And why is this the first I know of a second von Schroeder child? Why would they hide him? Something doesn't add up…"

I was in shock and couldn't reply. Then Mr. Chisholm abruptly broke off and looked at Leon again.

"Shit!" he exclaimed.

The idea of this seemingly proper businessman swearing was enough to snap me out of my trance momentarily. I reached the same conclusion he had shortly thereafter. Why didn't I notice it sooner? Leon's hair was a different shade, but otherwise I could finally see it: the eerie resemblance he had to Mr. Chisholm.

"Well, congratulations," I said as calmly as I could, "It appears you have a son. Now shut up and watch."

Meanwhile, to use a cliché phrase, things were going from bad to worse up on the platform. Apparently, the duel couldn't be stopped now, and Leon was determined to carry out his brother's plan. He seemed to have entirely forgotten about me…Zigfried's influence again, most likely. I wish I could give a blow-by-blow account of everything that was happening, but I was just too overwhelmed to process it all. To think that I'd worked so hard all those years to make Leon feel loved and accepted, but Zigfried had still managed to twist his mind. What was more, I was far enough away that I didn't always catch everything everyone said. But did I really want to hear it?

Finally, though, things calmed down a bit. But it wouldn't last. Just when I was starting to think that maybe it would be all right after all, Zigfried revealed his plan for destroying all of Kaiba's computers, vis a card that Leon played. Or something like that. I really couldn't care less about Kaiba's computers; the main thing was that Leon finally started to realize how outrageous this all was. But I couldn't be there to back him up! Instead, it was Yugi who had to calm Leon down. If only I could help…if only Zigfried hadn't separated us…what sort of mother was I?!

After that, things kind of became a blur. All I could think about was how I had failed. Somehow, Yugi and Leon managed to stop Zigfried's plan…without my help. Leon did end up losing, but he didn't seem to mind. He was so forgiving that he even reconciled with Zigfried! But that left me…with nothing.

* * *

Where was I to go now? I didn't know, but I was determined to at least talk to Leon one more time. I managed to catch up with Leon as he was going back to the hotel to get his things.

"Wait!" I shouted. I wasn't even sure he'd pay attention to me, but he did turn around.

"Leon…I'm so sorry," I sobbed out. I didn't think "sorry" would be adequate after all this, but I didn't know what else to say.

Leon looked down.

"Don't be," he muttered. "I was the one who was an asshole."

"Leon! Language!" I scolded automatically. That did actually break the tension a bit, since we couldn't quite decide whether to cry or laugh.

Finally, Leon continued, "I shouldn't have listened to Zigfried. He said…that you weren't real family. I was….I just wanted his approval."

"Well, he may have done that…but I let him," I admitted. "I don't think I was brave enough to stand up to him. I couldn't see that he'd changed from the little kid he was when I met him."

"Wait…Zigfried was a little kid?" Leon asked half-jokingly as he scratched his head.

"You'd be surprised."

Before Leon could answer, a very familiar voice cried out, "There you are!"

Yes, it was Mr. Player the Sperm Donor himself.

"We were talking!" Leon said indignantly. "What do you… "

But he was smarter than either of us, and now that he wasn't distracted by the tournament, all it took was one double-take for him to figure the whole thing out.

"If you want me to call you 'Dad,' you're out of luck," he said. It shows how completely over-the-top this day had been that Leon hardly even seemed to be fazed by this latest development.

"Well, no, you don't have to," a much-chastened Mr. Chisholm replied, "But I would be happy if you considered coming to live with me. If it's all right with your mother and brother and…whoever this is. I….my ex-wife and I never had children."

"Well…" Leon seemed to start to think about this.

"DON'T YOU DO IT!"

It was the girl that Leon had had an eye on, of all people!

"You'd be crazy to go off with him!" the girl shouted. "You already have a family, you idiot!"

"Geez, Rebecca, cut it out!" Leon said while blushing furiously. Then he turned back to Mr. Chisholm.

"But she's right…I have a family. Even if they're not all related to me by blood," he said while looking pointedly at me.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I started bawling.

* * *

Things wound down nicely after that. Zigfried found us, and after much prompting by Leon, said he was sorry, and also said I could continue to live with them in Germany. I said that I would, but first I'd have to catch up on some stuff here in America.

Leon and Rebecca just stood there staring at each other for several minutes, until Rebecca said, "Well, I can't just stay here forever; my grandpa and I have a flight to catch. So are you going to give me your e-mail or not?"

Leon started blushing again, but they did exchange phone numbers and e-mails. This was definitely something I was going to have to keep an eye on.

But that would be for later. Now we didn't have to do anything but look forward to a bright future!

THE END


End file.
